Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Warner Bros. Pictures is set to return to ancient Greece and make war epic 300, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name. Variety says the film will be directed by Zach Snyder and produced by Hollywood Gang Productions and Atmosphere Pictures MM.

Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life) has been signed to star. Production will begin October 17 in Montreal.

The film tells the true story of 300 elite Spartan fighters who, led by King Leonidas (Butler), fought to the death against King Xerxes' massive Persian army during the battle of Thermopylae in 481-480 B.C. According to lore, their valor inspired all of Greece to rise up against the invading Persians, planting the seeds of democracy.

Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) and his writing partner, Kurt Johnstad, adapted the screenplay from Miller's graphic novel. Michael Gordon wrote a previous draft.

The studio said 300 will rely on hyper-real renderings similar to the stylized illustrations created by Miller for his book.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

This story of the 300 Spartan soldiers who, with help of some errant farmers and bounty hunters, held off the Persian army (hundreds of thousands, some say a million) for days while the rest of Greece got off their asses and allied themselves against the invading horde.

This is perhaps the greatest story ever. Let's hope it is done well. The poster is an odd choice for promotion but is still a great image.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Yeah, it's on a horror site and they put it up because it looks like it's a horror movie. I hope the film doesn't follow the freakish character storyline. It is not historically accurate or even an important part to the story. I'd prefer they left it out.

I've said elsewhere thast this is the greatest story but a Gates of Fire movie would be way better than a 300 movie.

Just saw Frank Miller's 300 at Winnetka 21 preview. Pretty intense ... the movie has very similar quality as Sin City...live action w/ digital background. Story is very faithful to the original. Very stylish. However, the script needs a little tweaking.

I know alot of people were worried that they were turning it into a horror movie since the posters came out. This might ease your minds.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Disclaimer: What I saw was not a finished film, but I believe that it is far enough along for compliments and criticisms to be dished out.

For the reasons above, I’m going to try and keep my comments fairly broad. I think the cut is where they want it (for now), but some of the shots were not fully rendered and the sound design still needs a lot of attention. The cut that I saw had a temp score as well so I am anxious to hear where Tyler Bates decides to go with the actual score. Judging by the temp they are going more Gladiator than contemporary…which is a good move in my opinion. This review won’t be as entertaining as a Vern review, but it is an honest assessment of the film in its current state. Nevertheless, here is a breakdown of the elements of the film and my reactions:

THE STORY: There will be some mild spoilers in this section, but nothing that is going to take anything away from the film. The movie starts out with a brief intro of what a Spartan is and how they are trained. Personally, I would have liked to see more of this. The questionably cast narrator (as a stand alone I think the narration is great, I’m just concerned his voice doesn’t work with the rest of the film) says that at the end of their training that they are “tossed into the wild, left to pit his wits and will against natures furry…he would return a Spartan, or not at all.” Not only is this one of the dozens of cream your shorts lines in the film, I think this could be a movie in and of itself. Unfortunately, it is just the first 5 minutes of this one.

For the next 20 minutes there is a lot of political talk that sets up the story. The people of Sparta are happy with their lives and the peace that they live in, but the Persians are advancing. An elite group, called Spartans, decide to stop the advance themselves since the Spartan army can fight only if the politicians decide that it’s necessary.

This leads to a very poignant moment between King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his wife (Lena Headey) just before the Spartans go off to battle. This is a great scene and it makes the insanity of these 300 soldiers fighting 250,000+ Persian soldiers believable and justifiable…not to mention it gave this geek chills.

From this point on the film is just one massive battle after another peppered with scenes of the goings on inside the Sparta government. The battles do get tiresome in time and the movie begins to lag a bit. The style of the film and the investment in the characters is what keeps it moving along. 300 is a very straightforward story but it is not my place to fill you in on where it goes so I am going to stop here. I would guess that those of you reading this know the general story of the film anyways.

THE ACTING/THE WRITING: Let me start off by saying that Butler is absolutely perfect for this role…he really nails it. He even has some very cheesy dialog that he is able to completely pull off. The heavy-handed dialog proves too much for some of the actors though and it comes out corny and unassured. However, since the whole film plays like a meticulously crafted graphic novel, even the mis-spoken dialog is mostly forgivable and at times almost charming. The script is solid but more attention paid to the adolescent Spartan and slightly more to the epilogue instead of the 1hr+ of fighting would have been beneficial.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY: Oddly, this is where both my biggest compliments and my biggest complaints lie. Let me start off by saying that this film is a monumental artistic achievement. At times I was so distracted by how beautiful the shots and compositions were that I actually stopped paying attention to what was being said in some of the scenes. The freedom of the green screen shoot allowed the artists to create an amazing world and, although it is based on our world, it is something we have never seen before. With that said, let me get to my biggest criticism. There are a lot of shots that seem “small”. A number of the shots seem like there need to be a lot more people in them (sometimes the 300 looks more like the 40). This is where the green screen can be a killer since the only depth in the shots comes from what can be created by the effects artists. I found on several occasions that this two-dimensionality took me out of the otherwise great film. Instead of paying attention to the story, I was more concerned with where the hell everyone else was. This problem goes beyond the number of people in the composition though and has more to do with the depth of field and just an overall feeling of space. Along those lines, I didn’t feel there were enough “scope” shots. Although it looked amazing I was reminded too often that this is a green screen movie. Since the film isn’t finished it is very possible that these issues will be fixed, but it was a major problem I had with the film.

CONCLUSION: Overall, this is a great film that, along with Sin City and Sky Captain, will change everything. Despite what some thought, I think what Zack Snyder did with Dawn of the Dead was inspired. He really takes his game to a whole new level with this film. I can only imagine that the people that truly care about how this film turns out will be overjoyed to see the final product. When it’s all said and done, Snyder pulls it off…and I couldn’t be more excited to see what he does with The Watchmen.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I just saw a movie that’ll give your eyes boners, make your balls scream and make you poop DVD copies of THE TRANSPORTER. It’s called 300. I don’t know what the title has to do with the movie, but they could’ve called it KITTENS MAKING CANDLES and it’d still rule.

It’s about these 300 Greek dudes who stomp the sugar-coated shit out of like a million other dudes. I have a feeling that a lot of high school sports coaches are going to show this film to their teams before they play. Also, gay dudes and divorced women are going to use screen captures for computer wallpaper.

The movie takes place about a million years ago, and it’s sort of like a prequel to SIN CITY. Except way less guns and cars but twice as much skull splitting. If you watch this movie and go into a Taco Bell, and say to the cashier, “I need some extra sauce packets” guess what? You’re getting twenty sauce packets because your face will punch him in the brain.

I can’t spoil the plot because THANK GOD THERE ISN’T ONE. Just ass kicking that kicks ass that, while said ass is getting kicked, is kicking yet more ass that’s hitting someone’s balls with a hammer made of ice but the ice is frozen whiskey.

TWO COOL THINGS ABOUT THE MOVIE AND ONE THING I DIDN’T LIKE:

COOL THING ONE:

HEAVY METAL DURING BATTLE SCENES

Who gives a shit if the music isn’t historically correct? LORD OF THE RINGS could’ve used some Journey. This movie has that chu-CHUNG kind of metal that you hear in your head when your shift supervisor at Wetzel’s Pretzel is telling you that you’ll have to stay for clean up and you wish you had a sock filled with quarters in your hand.

COOL THING TWO:

FOES, MINI-BOSSES AND A BIG BOSS

Basically, the Greek dudes are fighting these Persian dudes, but the director, who must have a dick made of three machine guns, does it all like a video game. The Greeks fight every death metal video from the last ten years. There’s wave after wave of giants, freaks, ninjas, mutants, wizards, and a hunchback who looks like he’s got Rosie O’Donnell on his back.

Would I have been happy if Dom DeLuise from HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I had shown up? Maybe, but this movie more than makes up for that glaring oversight.

NOT SO GOOD THING:

DUDE NUDITY (“DUDE-ITY”)

These are Greek times, when there were a lot of naked women around. And there are some naked women in this film, but almost every naked woman scene has a muscular dude giving the screen an ass picnic. Dude-ity is something directors put in their movies so people will think they’re serious, I guess, and not just throwing in naked hotties.

Any directors reading this – IT’S OKAY TO JUST THROW IN NAKED HOTTIES.

Can’t someone make a movie about naked Amazons and call it PAUSE BUTTON?

My final analysis is 300 the most ass-ruling movie I’ve seen this year, and will probably be the King of 2007 unless someone makes a movie where a pair of sentient boobs fights a werewolf.